When second-home owners decide to be landlords, even for a few weeks in the summer, they often expose themselves to many risks, the biggest of which is getting stuck with toxic tenants. It doesn’t mean you should drop the idea of using your second home to supplement your income, but you need to be careful and have someone experienced by your side. This is when it becomes ideal to take advantage of property management services.
Why You Need Property Management Services
Managing a rental unit from afar is never an easy task. You need some local experienced help to handle rentals. Thankfully, you can find some impressive property management companies offering comprehensive services. A property manager can handle everything from finding tenants, interviewing them and letting them move in, collecting rent, returning security deposits and appearing in court if something need be. If your property is vacant in Milwaukee, a property manager can schedule maintenance, provide cleaning services and even check up on the property in the event of bad weather.
Finding a Trustworthy Manager
Your fellow property owners will tell you many horror stories about property managers, including tales of companies renting out properties without informing the owners. “Ghost booking” is the right term to describe this, and you will not see any income in this situation. Therefore, you need to proceed carefully and ensure that you’ve hired a company that you can trust.
Here are few suggestions to simplify the hiring process:
• Search hard and invest in a company with a robust advertising budget and an online portal that allows property owners to check when their properties are booked for renters.
• Ask your real estate agents or neighbors for feedback on local Milwaukee companies. Reading reviews about companies that manage vacation homes will prove beneficial as well.
• Check what property management services are available and compare them with what you pay. Most companies charge 25% to 40% of the rental revenue, but this will save you from dealing with the cost of booking rentals, advertising, screening renters, regular cleaning and securing a property in bad weather. So, be sure to check what it costs and what you get in return.
• It is important to check how many homes your prospective property management company has managed in the past or are still managing. Don’t just trust their portfolio, though. Make a decision considering the level of staffing, which insures the company can maintain each property with equal attention.
The bottom line is that if you buy an investment property and think that nothing will ever go wrong, you’re living in a dream. There are issues like bad tenants, thefts, storms and more. Only a professional company with comprehensive property management services can help you yield more return on your investment. Be sure to work with a good one.
